 |
| Prof. Amal K. Raychaudhuri, D.Sc, FNA, FNASc. |
Prof. Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri (1923-2005) was Professor of Physics in Presidency College Calcutta. Professor Raychaudhuri's greatest contribution was to discover "Raychaudhuri Equation", which governs the dynamics of the Universe and changes the concept of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Prof. Raychaudhuri addressed the fundamental question of singularity in the most general form with no reference to any symmetry and any specific property of space time and energy distribution. His equation characterized by time like velocity vector under its own gravity and modified Einstein's equation and changes the history of the concept of universe. His equation is routinely used by Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking to explain the theory of universe.
His biography has been written by J.V. Narlekar and a documentary film has been made on his life. Perhaps after Satyendra Nath Bose, he is the most accepted Indian Physicist by the Western World.
He was a great teacher, science orator and popularly known as AKR by his students. Even when I was in Presidency College (1979-82), I was fortunate to hear many of his lectures including the one on explanation to Dirac Equation.
